Annemiek van Vleuten sports rainbow jersey for the first time at Giro dell'Emilia

Oct 02 2019 10:32 pm CET

Annemiek van Vleuten by Mitchelton-Scott

Newly crowned World Champion Annemiek van Vleuten will sport her rainbow jersey for the first time in competition at the Giro dell'Emilia.

The Dutch rider took an incredible solo victory at the road race of the World Championships of Yorkshire after doing more than 100 kilometres in front by herself and exactly one week later she will be showing her rainbow jersey in the Italian race, where she will be making her debut with Mitchelton-Scott.

"It means a lot to me to race on Saturday at Emilia, I am really looking forward to racing in the rainbow stripes and I am super proud to wear the colours for Mitchelton-Scott and what a great way to end the season like this," said Van Vleuten. "The race is different from the men's where they have a lot more elevation but we both finish on the same climb, San Luca. I know it and I also saw it in the Giro d'Italia. I think it suits me and it is a great atmosphere so I am super excited to race there.

"I had some celebrations but I don't think it has ruined my legs and I trained again already because I still have some focus, so I am looking forward to going there and going for the win. Last year I finished on a low, I couldn't enjoy my world time trial title after my injury, so it makes this one even more special and I am really looking forward to racing in the jersey already. The team is strong and Spratt is in incredible form and it will be nice to race with her again and then after we can enjoy it and celebrate all the results from the whole season with the whole team at a training camp."